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News | Churches in crisis


downsmail.co.uk Sharing the burden of costs


IT IS always a delicate topic to discuss, but the region’s churches are being forced to talkmoney. Rising costs, falling attendance


and an upcoming recruitment crisis,with 50%of vicars prepar- ing to retire over the next five years, has prompted the Church to question how congregations will pay to maintain the service in future. The “parish share”, which


funds the area’s ministry and asks each church to make a fi- nancial contribution, is at the centre of the debate. In recent years,more churches


have struggled to meet the fi- nancial obligation, with shrink- ing congregations (6.3% down last year) giving to collections. As a result, the latest consulta-


tions on the payment across the region are “exercising” emo- tions. And,with just 11,191worship-


pers stepping across the thresh- old of the 300 or so churches in the Canterbury Diocese last year, the funding issue is set to worsen. In Maidstone this year, the Diocese of Canterbury agreed to


‘Service has


to be funded’ CANON John Corbyn, the vicar of Bearsted with Thurn- ham, agreeswiththeprinciple of the parish share in helping thewider church family. He said: “Church services are free at the point of del ivery, like


the


NHS, but they have to


be


f u n d e d somehow.”


He believes a reliance on


shrinking government grants, charity and the collection tray for the upkeep of these build- ings needs to change. “Weneedto askwhether the


wider community wishes to help maintain its heritage, rather than relying on a small number ofworshippers. “The crisis has been like


standing on thinning ice on a pond. We have continued to stand but churches do close. It’s whether we as the public let them.”


8 Maidstone May 2019 ‘More cloth can be cut’


THE Reverend David Green, vicar of St Mary’s, West Malling, and the rector of StMichael’s,Offham, sup- ports the principle of the parish share. It represents a bill equivalent to


more than half of his church in- come, at around £45,000. But he says recent negotiations by theDio- cese of Rochester to add a 10% contribution – before deductions – are “ludicrous”. He says any additional amount


will push his churches into the red. And,whileOffhamcouldmatch last year’s parish share, anymorewould be “crippling”.


He suggests the diocese offices at


Canterbury andRochestermerge to save on back office functions. “Unlike a business, there are cer-


tain costs that we can’t avoid, such as lighting and heating. People are very generous, but there is only so muchmoney available. To have two dioceseoffices inKent suggests that there ismore that they could do to cut their cloth.” He added: “The parish share is in-


dicative.We canchange the finance model, but itwon’t fix the problem.” He also believesministers should


also preside over more than one church.


write off the crippling historical £160,000 parish share debt ac- crued by Maidstone and Tovil’s All Saints’, St Philip’s and St Stephen’s churches. Asking worshippers to give


more to the collection and creat- ing new revenue streams are among the solutions being con-


sidered. Some churches, like St Lawrence’s in Thanet, are already employing innovativemethods to raise cash. It is producing and selling St Lawrence Grid Iron ale to pay its parish share. However, many smaller rural


churches will struggle with any increase in the money they have


to pay. Anna Drew, director of communications for the Diocese of Canterbury, admits some churches will find meeting their obligations a challenge, with last year’s average parish share bill of nearly £37,000 set to rise by 3.5% this year. She said: “The level of funding


required will be difficult to sus- tain. “Perhaps, in the past we felt


thereweremore important issues to attend to thanmoney, but now we need this bigger conversa- tion.” Both Canterbury and Rochester


dioceses, which cover Maidstone andMalling respectively, are now wrestling to make ends meet, with more than 80% of churches in the region grade I listed build- ings, including the county town’s All Saints’ Church,which spends around £8,000 a year on heating alone. They say a robust parish share will be crucial in recruiting new clergy and paying the pen- sions of thosewho retire.


Reporting by Dawn Kingsford ‘We’re proud


to help out’ THE Reverend Fiona Haskett supports the parish share and its help inmaintaining the country’s network of churches. This is de-


spite the fact that it takes around £75,000 from the cof- fers of the four churches in her charge atChart Sutton, East Sutton, Head- corn and Sutton Valence. She said: “With one of my own


churches at risk of closure, it’s a struggle to find themoney. “But, we are proud to be subsi-


dising a parochial system where everyone can look to their own church andminister for support. “Fundraising for the local


church is hardwork, but it is also a social opportunity to bring the community together, and we would encourage more people to support their local church in whateverway they can. “We’re not all strange charac-


ters in sandals, we’re human be- ings who really care about our fellowman.”


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